Complexion
a word formerly applied to the temperament, and natural disposition of the body.
The human skin was supposed to consist of only two parts-the cuticle, or epidermis, and the cutis, or real skin; but Malpighi showed that between these two was a soft gelatinous cellular texture, which he distinguished by the title rete mucosum. On this discovery that anatomist offered a suggestion as to the color of negroes. The rete mucosum is of very different color in different nations; and the difference of its color corresponds so exactly with the difference of their complexions, that there can be little doubt that it is the principal seat of the color of the human complexion.